protexIP/development is a platform that helps companies administer how their software assets are created, managed and licensed. The platform was the first to be brought to the market, and today remains the clear market leader with implementations among a far larger and more diverse customer base than any other product on the market.

Mixed code development which is the combination of third party assets, open source software and/or proprietary programming components, is an integral part of today’s software development environment. However, coordinating the use and having the knowledge to navigate through a maze of intellectual property (IP) rights can be extremely challenging.

The protexIP/development platform simplifies every aspect of this otherwise daunting and time consuming process by automating component approval within your software. protexIP/development identifies potential license conflicts, highlights discrepancies between business policies and IP usage, and provides a framework for tracking issue resolution.

Who uses protexIP/development?

Companies of all sizes in all industries use licensed material such as open source and third party code as part of their software development process. The code is often free, easy to find and has been tested and improved by sometimes hundreds of developers.

With the protexIP/development system, developers, legal counsel, and management can easily control the introduction of licensed material into their code base and manage the licensing requirements of the many various third party and open source components.

In addition, the protexIP/development platform is flexible enough to fit into virtually any individual or collaborative workflow environment monitoring component code origins, applying policies, and performing multiple tasks within the system throughout the entire product development lifecycle.

How does protexIP/development work?

The protexIP/development platform is based on the powerful combination of Black Duck’s advanced Code Print™ technology, automated license analytics, and the world’s most comprehensive code KnowledgeBase.

Our unique Code Print technology breaks down larger software components into smaller code snippets for analysis. These code snippets are then compared to the protexIP KnowledgeBase.

The KnowledgeBase contains billions of Code Prints representing many hundreds of software projects — and their corresponding licenses — that have been amassed and are regularly updated by Black Duck Software. By analyzing user code and automatically comparing it with the KnowledgeBase, licensed software elements can be quickly identified and licensing obligations determined and resolved before they become issues for the business.

How can protexIP/development help your company?

The protexIP/development platform is designed to resolve IP issues throughout your entire product development life cycle. From identifying the origins of code to applying company policies to license requirements, protexIP/development eliminates slow, costly and inaccurate manual code review.

protexIP/development also provides an improved communication tool between developers and non-technical personnel who need to know what makes up your software code (such as legal counsel). One example is the Black Duck Code Label which is a reporting function that creates a report detailing the contents of a software development code base, with information categorized for easy reading. Click here for more information on the Black Duck Code Label.

• Reduces business risks by guiding your personnel in the daily use of licensed software components
• Accelerates software development by enabling your developers to reuse quality open source and commercial software components on a large scale, reducing time-to-market
• Minimizes business costs by reducing personnel and development costs as your organization becomes proactive in the management of component software
• Efficiently identifies software IP issues that arise during development and provides a way to track the resolution of each issue
• Provides a collaborative environment in which legal counsel and the development team can efficiently access the information they need to make decisions
• Automates compliance and corporate IP policies by enabling the implementation of a repeatable business process to support your corporate compliance polices

How can you find out more information?

For additional information about Black Duck Software’s protexIP/development development platform, our company offers the following resources:

• protexIP/development datasheet – Overview of the protexIP/development solution

• protexIP/development Code Estimation Tool - Black Duck Software provides an estimation tool which allows you to determine the size of your code base

• A resources page on the Black Duck KnowledgeBase

• A resources page on the Black Duck Code Label

• Whitepaper - Best Practices for Managing Software Intellectual Property in an Open Source World

• EPAM Case Study

• Contact Black Duck